# Transcript: Finding ways and not giving up

## Description

All this, as well as trends in the food and beverage market, why we should care about what and from whom we eat, and how inflation has taken us back ten years to the era of discounts and flyers, will be shared by Scuk’s founder and CEO, Kamil Demuth.



Who is Kamil Demuth



Kamil Demuth previously worked as a manager at Heureka.cz and CZC.cz. His desire to work on projects with deeper meaning led him to found the online farmers’ marketplace Scuk.cz, which connects local producers and farmers with enthusiasts of local food. E-commerce, startups, marketing, lean methodology, healthy company culture, and innovation are topics that Kamil really enjoys in business.

## Transcript

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**[00:10:00]** She kind of belongs there like everything else.

**[00:10:04]** For me, the most important thing today is the ability to adapt. Definitely.

**[00:10:08]** Just be ready for changes. You can create many changes yourself.

**[00:10:12]** And change them yourself. Then the black swans come, like COVID and Russian tanks.

**[00:10:18]** And you realize it's a completely different game, that it's not about you at all.

**[00:10:22]** Or rather, it's about you and how you approach it.

**[00:10:25]** So for me, the key today is the ability to adapt.

**[00:10:28]** And the main element for adaptation is change.

**[00:10:31]** Again, it's about change. Of course, good execution is also part of it.

**[00:10:35]** If I want to change things but don't do them myself,

**[00:10:38]** I won't get very far.

**[00:10:41]** And I also need ideas, ideas.

**[00:10:43]** Even if I know what I want to change.

**[00:10:45]** And of course, that determination, using the determination of your knowledge,

**[00:10:49]** also belongs there.

**[00:10:51]** Otherwise, you'll give up after the first or second year.

**[00:10:55]** Alright, we're at the start, launching.

**[00:10:58]** July 2017, we're full of enthusiasm, passion, properly naive.

**[00:11:03]** And I always say that naivety is necessary.

**[00:11:05]** If we weren't naive, we wouldn't be entrepreneurs.

**[00:11:07]** We saw all the obstacles that were there.

**[00:11:10]** Of course, naivety needs to be brought back to some reality.

**[00:11:13]** But it belongs there, we solve every problem, we work hard.

**[00:11:16]** First investment from Myton.

**[00:11:18]** We had no idea what it would be called.

**[00:11:20]** From names like Beer, Wine, Jam, Hurám, Mňám, Gulášovka.cz, Kamilovy, Dobroty.

**[00:11:25]** We ended up with Local Market.cz.

**[00:11:28]** Big discussions.

**[00:11:29]** But we saw it wouldn't be the final name.

**[00:11:31]** Or at least we hoped so.

**[00:11:33]** Alright, it's awesome. Let's go.

**[00:11:35]** Three months from the start, okay, this path isn't the right one.

**[00:11:40]** The first advice about Nika in Nice was nonsense.

**[00:11:43]** I really like starting a business on Nice.

**[00:11:46]** Facebook, Amazon, eBay, they all started on Nice.

**[00:11:49]** Facebook, Harvard, a social network for students, Amazon, books,

**[00:11:53]** eBay, antiques or collectibles, stamps, they all started there.

**[00:11:57]** And then gradually grew.

**[00:11:59]** We said we'd start on Nice too.

**[00:12:01]** But the fundamental problem was that we really went into Nika,

**[00:12:04]** and even within Nice, we chose another Nika.

**[00:12:06]** We started with the idea that we'd connect farmers,

**[00:12:11]** or rather back then mostly winemakers, with customers.

**[00:12:15]** And we approached it by targeting companies,

**[00:12:18]** where typically there was a guy or girl who had their contacts in Moravia

**[00:12:22]** and once she started delivering Moravian produce to her colleagues in Prague.

**[00:12:26]** So we thought we'd replace the paper,

**[00:12:28]** or the Google Sheet in the best case,

**[00:12:30]** with a platform instead.

**[00:12:32]** But it didn't work out.

**[00:12:33]** I won't go into details, but after three months,

**[00:12:36]** when we had a rough first version of the platform,

**[00:12:38]** which was very stripped down, we realized

**[00:12:40]** that this really wasn't the way to go.

**[00:12:42]** So, okay, and this was the turning point.

**[00:12:44]** La ruche qui dit oui.

**[00:12:46]** If you know French, you probably hate me,

**[00:12:48]** because I definitely mispronounced it.

**[00:12:50]** It's a French project that inspired us incredibly.

**[00:12:53]** And we realized we didn't have to reinvent the wheel.

**[00:12:55]** There were many connecting elements to what we wanted to do,

**[00:12:58]** except it was no longer just about wine, but about good food.

**[00:13:01]** So we said, hey, besides liking to drink wine,

**[00:13:04]** we also like to eat good things.

**[00:13:06]** So instead of just helping winemakers,

**[00:13:09]** we could also help farmers and producers.

**[00:13:11]** And La ruche qui dit oui was operating in eight countries at the time.

**[00:13:14]** It was a community marketplace,

**[00:13:17]** connecting local producers and farmers

**[00:13:21]** in various countries with customer communities.

**[00:13:24]** So for us, the community at the start was the company.

**[00:13:26]** We did it there, so we could deliver to the company

**[00:13:29]** with one delivery for multiple customers.

**[00:13:31]** And we thought, yeah, that's great, that's our company,

**[00:13:33]** that's the group.

**[00:13:35]** And La ruche qui means the hive that says yes.

**[00:13:38]** So they called them hives, we call them groups.

**[00:13:41]** This inspired us and suddenly, great.

**[00:13:44]** Restart the route. Painting, packing, correct delivery on time,

**[00:13:47]** we solve every problem, we work hard, yeah, awesome.

**[00:13:50]** And by then we already knew we wouldn't be just a local market,

**[00:13:53]** but that we'd be from Cuk.cz.

**[00:13:55]** Through Milan Zemánek, whom I want to thank again,

**[00:13:58]** because he brought us the idea,

**[00:14:01]** to start a business with Cuk and before that not at all

**[00:14:05]** With the idea of the wine, I teamed up with Martin Kuciel,

**[00:14:09]** with Mr. Cuketka, who had Cuk.cz, maybe you know it,

**[00:14:12]** it used to be a gastro guide, mainly here for people in Prague,

**[00:14:16]** maybe for people in Brno too, but it was dying out,

**[00:14:20]** Martin no longer wanted to run it and I liked the domain.

**[00:14:23]** We wanted something punchy, short, unique,

**[00:14:27]** ideally melodious, which Cuk isn't exactly,

**[00:14:31]** but everything else is great, it's memorable,

**[00:14:34]** recognizable, just what you need to build a brand,

**[00:14:37]** you need something like that.

**[00:14:39]** So we really liked it and also Cuk,

**[00:14:42]** if you know, you probably don't,

**[00:14:44]** means to meet, to get together, to 'cuk' each other.

**[00:14:46]** We started as a community marketplace and wanted,

**[00:14:49]** people to meet, so we liked the undertone of what Cuk means.

**[00:14:51]** On March 14th, we launched Cuk.cz with great fanfare,

**[00:14:54]** we have our first suppliers thanks to Lokal Market,

**[00:14:57]** some first winemakers, some jam makers,

**[00:14:59]** there's some assortment, we have first organizers, pick-up points.

**[00:15:02]** And we're off.

**[00:15:05]** So, after a year, August 2018,

**[00:15:07]** as a business start, this is not the way forward.

**[00:15:10]** We’re not gaining traction, running out of money,

**[00:15:13]** and possibly won’t have enough for salaries.

**[00:15:16]** So one of the experiences, when I stood in front of my small team in early August 2018,

**[00:15:18]** I told them, look, I can still definitely pay you if you stay with me.

**[00:15:20]** If you stay with me in September, I don’t know,

**[00:15:23]** and of course, that’s not enough.

**[00:15:26]** But I think I have a plan,

**[00:15:28]** I think I know how we can turn this around,

**[00:15:32]** so let’s go this way.

**[00:15:35]** The first point was,

**[00:15:37]** look, we’ll launch central logistics.

**[00:15:39]** We have suppliers, we have groups,

**[00:15:41]** we have pick-up points, we have first customers.

**[00:15:44]** But it doesn’t fit that the supplier

**[00:15:46]** says, well, I’ll deliver it to Prague,

**[00:15:55]** but like to Ústí nad Labem,

**[00:15:57]** to Rousnice nad Labem, to České Budějovice,

**[00:15:59]** well, that just doesn't work.

**[00:16:01]** Like, OK, we probably won't do it in France,

**[00:16:03]** since we really didn't want to handle the logistics.

**[00:16:06]** We saw ourselves more as the guys

**[00:16:08]** who know digital, the big platform,

**[00:16:10]** and marketing, rather than wanting to handle packages.

**[00:16:12]** But actually, it wouldn't work without that.

**[00:16:14]** So we set up central logistics, the first warehouse,

**[00:16:16]** I probably won't copy

**[00:16:18]** the photos from that warehouse,

**[00:16:20]** the presentation, those are from the current warehouse.

**[00:16:22]** The warehouse didn't look like that back then.

**[00:16:25]** And our first delivery route,

**[00:16:27]** we had a supplier.

**[00:16:29]** So the supplier accepted it, we rearranged it,

**[00:16:31]** divided it, and loaded a full car

**[00:16:33]** and she made the first route for us.

**[00:16:35]** Ms. Kardová, greetings to her if she's listening.

**[00:16:37]** Great, she helped us a lot

**[00:16:39]** and that was our first delivery route

**[00:16:41]** and it ran one day a week.

**[00:16:43]** The second critical block we said we needed to do

**[00:16:45]** was that

**[00:16:47]** we always had a growth hypothesis

**[00:16:49]** based on our organizers.

**[00:16:51]** They are the people who create those local spots around the country

**[00:16:53]** and help us push marketing.

**[00:16:55]** And we struggled a bit at the start,

**[00:16:57]** because we didn't know how to help them

**[00:16:59]** to spread the word about us.

**[00:17:01]** We bet on Facebook groups,

**[00:17:03]** Facebook Groups,

**[00:17:05]** and for every organizer,

**[00:17:07]** we created one for them.

**[00:17:09]** That was a turning point in marketing

**[00:17:11]** and in how the response grew.

**[00:17:13]** Because at that time, Facebook already had,

**[00:17:15]** organic page reach of 3%,

**[00:17:17]** 5%.

**[00:17:19]** Facebook Groups at that time

**[00:17:21]** 90%.

**[00:17:23]** In other words, when 100 people joined us

**[00:17:25]** in the Facebook group and were active,

**[00:17:27]** 90 people saw it.

**[00:17:29]** And suddenly, that was the engine

**[00:17:31]** for how we could, together with the organizers,

**[00:17:33]** attract new customers.

**[00:17:35]** So, does it work?

**[00:17:37]** Alright, now we know the way again.

**[00:17:39]** That's the enthusiastic drive again.

**[00:17:41]** The right distance suddenly. We solve every problem.

**[00:17:43]** And buddy, we're going.

**[00:17:45]** Yeah, it works.

**[00:17:47]** It works great. We're gaining traction.

**[00:17:49]** In July

**[00:17:51]** 2018,

**[00:17:53]** we had about 50 thousand crowns in revenue.

**[00:17:55]** Through the platform. From that, the 15% commission,

**[00:17:57]** you can calculate that it's not much money. In August it was

**[00:17:59]** 150 thousand. In September, when we launched

**[00:18:01]** logistics, it was half a million. In November,

**[00:18:03]** it was a million. So suddenly,

**[00:18:05]** we caught that drive where we

**[00:18:07]** knew where we were going. We extended

**[00:18:09]** to new things, because now we at least had some

**[00:18:11]** showcases. It was clear that the money

**[00:18:13]** would run out eventually, but later.

**[00:18:15]** So we looked for new investors

**[00:18:17]** and welcomed new investors.

**[00:18:19]** And this is

**[00:18:21]** a photo from the Smobis signing

**[00:18:23]** next to Myton, David Špinár,

**[00:18:25]** Martin Rozen, as our next investor,

**[00:18:27]** as an Angel, Honza Barta with Petr Krajíček

**[00:18:29]** and Spell for Capital. You know,

**[00:18:31]** when you look for an investor and you look for one for an impact

**[00:18:33]** project, it's not easy.

**[00:18:37]** Still, I am really grateful

**[00:18:39]** to the guys for joining us, even though we are

**[00:18:41]** a very atypical investment for them.

**[00:18:43]** If you look at the portfolio they invest in,

**[00:18:45]** except maybe Martin Rozen, for whom

**[00:18:47]** we are an atypical investment.

**[00:18:49]** And because I never promised

**[00:18:51]** anyone that I would build a billion-dollar company.

**[00:18:53]** I want to build a company with impact. For me,

**[00:18:55]** revenue today is important.

**[00:18:57]** Of course, because it’s some kind of fuel. And mainly,

**[00:18:59]** revenue is a sign of how much

**[00:19:01]** we help our farmers. Because our

**[00:19:03]** mission is to secure their sales.

**[00:19:05]** And the measure of that, whether

**[00:19:07]** we like it or not, is revenue. But whether

**[00:19:09]** we sell for half a billion, a billion,

**[00:19:11]** or three billion, that’s not critically

**[00:19:13]** important to me. But for that, you need

**[00:19:15]** maybe specific investors with that perspective.

**[00:19:17]** So we have one for payroll.

**[00:19:19]** Funny story, when the money was transferring,

**[00:19:21]** on the operational account from Cuk,

**[00:19:23]** we have two accounts. One is

**[00:19:25]** where we collect money from donors, which we don’t touch,

**[00:19:27]** we take the maximum commission from it, so the money was there.

**[00:19:29]** But then there was the second operational account

**[00:19:31]** for payroll,

**[00:19:33]** various payments, and there were two thousand crowns.

**[00:19:35]** On my personal account,

**[00:19:37]** before paying the mortgage, there were two thousand crowns.

**[00:19:39]** We were really, really tight on cash.

**[00:19:43]** Alright. And I

**[00:19:45]** have another question, so I’ll wait a moment,

**[00:19:47]** to see how you vote.

**[00:19:49]** Which warehouse and office,

**[00:19:51]** are two different places.

**[00:19:53]** We had after the first four years of operation,

**[00:19:55]** whether it’s the third, fourth, or fifth,

**[00:19:57]** I’ll give you a moment.

**[00:20:00]** It's flying, it's flying.

**[00:20:04]** You come, you think, so actually

**[00:20:08]** typically for employees, once the biggest thing was usually various relocations.

**[00:20:12]** You get used to some environment, or we pull you out

**[00:20:16]** and just move on. Balanced fourth, fifth,

**[00:20:20]** third, sure you all know that three would be too little.

**[00:20:24]** Three would be too little. Of course, after 4 years, three would be too little.

**[00:20:28]** We had five. After the first four years, the fifth office,

**[00:20:32]** the fifth warehouse constantly changed in this way too.

**[00:20:36]** Maybe it's one of the things that reflects that something is always changing.

**[00:20:40]** Besides the office, everything around changes, including the offices.

**[00:20:44]** You don't have money to be straight in big ones, you save every crown,

**[00:20:48]** you jump, you don't want to commit too much anywhere, same with warehouses.

**[00:20:52]** You constantly try to move forward, so you keep relocating.

**[00:20:58]** Alright, yay, yay, we're scaling.

**[00:21:02]** 2.184 million GMD, so these are the gross revenues produced by the platform.

**[00:21:06]** 2.1953, 2.2261, and 2.21415.

**[00:21:12]** From 4 million to 415 million in the next three quarters.

**[00:21:16]** It was a big ride. Of course, V2.20 and V2.21

**[00:21:20]** were heavily accelerated by COVID. Without COVID,

**[00:21:24]** in V2.20 I think we would have made about 120 to 150 million.

**[00:21:28]** The traction was there, we knew how to do it, we caught it,

**[00:21:32]** but COVID obviously shot us up. We were able

**[00:21:36]** to scale it and seize the opportunity.

**[00:21:40]** But nothing for COVID, what it brought, no business is worth

**[00:21:44]** growing like that. Of course, that's nonsense.

**[00:21:48]** And if you look, from our 55 distribution points at the end of 2.18,

**[00:21:52]** and from 59 suppliers to 366 at the end of 2021.

**[00:21:56]** An unstoppable ride.

**[00:22:00]** What has happened so far? I had various metrics. Even though we changed a lot of things,

**[00:22:04]** there was a basic focus on things that work. We verified

**[00:22:08]** some hypotheses about value and growth. When you start, you have three basic questions.

**[00:22:12]** Where is my customer? If you answer that everyone, that's nonsense,

**[00:22:16]** it's again everyone, still nonsense. It's not everyone.

**[00:22:20]** I can help you who my key customer is. Then you ask

**[00:22:24]** the second question. Why should the customer buy from me? What value do I give them?

**[00:22:28]** Why should they choose me? And the third, how do customers find out about me?

**[00:22:32]** How do I reach them? How do I acquire them?

**[00:22:36]** These three, these are the three key questions for business. And if we master these three,

**[00:22:40]** then the fourth question is, how do I keep that customer? But it doesn't make sense to say,

**[00:22:44]** How can I keep it if we haven't solved the first three? We managed to do it.

**[00:22:48]** We knew the value from the end customer's perspective,

**[00:22:52]** why we then have some values for suppliers, for our pick-up points, organizers,

**[00:22:56]** the first thing is the assortment. We grew by

**[00:23:00]** offering customers a unique range and especially a unique assortment

**[00:23:04]** of fresh products not available in regular distribution networks.

**[00:23:08]** Today we have 280 suppliers in stock, 13,000 products

**[00:23:12]** in the farmer line, let's say the local line.

**[00:23:16]** And that's absolutely unique. This assortment isn't in regular distribution networks.

**[00:23:20]** So we kept adding new producers.

**[00:23:24]** The second thing was that we became available across the entire Czech Republic.

**[00:23:28]** We kept expanding our pick-up network. We knew

**[00:23:32]** we weren't just for people in Prague, that there are rohlík and many places

**[00:23:36]** where customers can buy quality food, including at farmers' markets. But actually,

**[00:23:40]** when you go to the regions, you think,

**[00:23:44]** hey, there are farms, people grow everything themselves, nonsense.

**[00:23:48]** Today farms here are very narrowly specialized, so if you want to visit farms,

**[00:23:52]** you go to one, but you won't go to the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth to fill a full basket.

**[00:23:56]** And in the regions, quality food stores simply don't exist.

**[00:24:00]** If there is health food, it has dry goods, but quality meat,

**[00:24:04]** quality dairy, quality fruit and vegetables, there isn't. So we used that a lot

**[00:24:08]** and actually spread from Aš to Zlín and not just down there,

**[00:24:12]** Lipno up north, I don't know,

**[00:24:16]** I think everywhere. We're everywhere.

**[00:24:20]** And we gradually grew.

**[00:24:24]** And the growth engine for us was community marketing. At the same time, our value,

**[00:24:28]** which we said we provide, meaning we can deliver across the whole country,

**[00:24:32]** and the assortment, this was also a growth driver when we scaled.

**[00:24:36]** But the key was that community marketing worked

**[00:24:40]** with the organizers. We focused on how to educate the organizers,

**[00:24:44]** help them promote us, because we never had much money for marketing.

**[00:24:48]** And we helped like this. Huge thanks especially to

**[00:24:52]** our organizers who have been with us five, six years and help us constantly

**[00:24:56]** move this forward. It wouldn't work without them.

**[00:25:00]** And then it's about managing operational scaling.

**[00:25:04]** Because I think the opportunity with COVID was huge for everyone in e-commerce,

**[00:25:08]** for most segments. But the difference was

**[00:25:16]** or rather create the scale. Because suddenly, when your turnover

**[00:25:20]** jumps 100% from one day to the next week, then again 100% the following week,

**[00:25:24]** Next week again by 100%, it's crazy.

**[00:25:28]** I never thought growth could be so stressful.

**[00:25:32]** And at that peak, we immediately moved the warehouse, of course. Our big advantage is,

**[00:25:36]** that the warehouse has no stock, it's just a flow-through. But even so, it was an unbelievable massacre.

**[00:25:40]** Because suddenly on Monday, 30 new people show up, people you never knew in your life,

**[00:25:44]** and you need to somehow adjust. Interesting.

**[00:25:48]** And then data. Data, data, data, data. You need to be able to

**[00:25:52]** look at the numbers here. Without the numbers, you're blind. You only make decisions

**[00:25:56]** based on intuition. I'm not saying intuition is bad. You need it, you need good intuition.

**[00:26:00]** But you also need hard data. So we are a very data-driven company.

**[00:26:04]** Thanks, COVID.

**[00:26:08]** The first days were panic, if you remember,

**[00:26:12]** just a crisis scenario. The first question was, will they even shut us down?

**[00:26:16]** They forbid people to gather and some kind of pick-up point

**[00:26:20]** for our community shopping, and the fact that our pick-up works so that

**[00:26:24]** you come to the pick-up point. It was typically community-oriented.

**[00:26:28]** We had a little attraction there, chatted with the organizer, kids played, and it was nice,

**[00:26:32]** and beyond just going to load up on food from the parcel shop,

**[00:26:36]** you went for a bit of an experience, to chat.

**[00:26:40]** And this completely broke down from one minute to the next.

**[00:26:44]** And mainly there was the fear that they would shut us down. That lasted about a day.

**[00:26:48]** The next day I said, hey, they won't close us. They won't really close us. The pick-up must work.

**[00:26:52]** At first, I believed the government wouldn't impose restrictions to close e-shop pick-up points,

**[00:26:56]** and that it would go like this. Of course, there was some risk.

**[00:27:00]** And I said, well, this is an opportunity. It's an opportunity because people will look for

**[00:27:04]** alternative ways to order quality food, they won't go to stores.

**[00:27:08]** So it's an opportunity for us and we have to prepare for it somehow.

**[00:27:12]** A bunch of different hygiene measures, constant communication as things kept changing.

**[00:27:16]** Every day something new, we introduced contactless pick-up,

**[00:27:20]** masks, etc. Just a mess. Constant change.

**[00:27:24]** But that's change, every day something changes, almost every day,

**[00:27:28]** because the government didn't handle it strategically well, in my opinion.

**[00:27:32]** It must have been extremely hard for them, it's just not their experience.

**[00:27:36]** In business, it was a terrible mess. And from that, we started to grow.

**[00:27:40]** The growth was unbelievable.

**[00:27:44]** So, now I'll look at the team. This was the first photo from 2017, there were five of us.

**[00:27:48]** After 2018, there were six of us. April 2019, I think about thirteen.

**[00:27:52]** September 2020, around twenty-five.

**[00:27:56]** And then here is our beautiful villa in Pátá office,

**[00:28:00]** where we already needed a bit more space.

**[00:28:04]** You'll find that it's cheaper than any office in Karmín, but about twice as big.

**[00:28:08]** At our peak, there were thirty-five of us.

**[00:28:12]** There was also a warehouse and operations, with the same number of people.

**[00:28:16]** With that team growth, I think the key role is simply HR.

**[00:28:22]** If I had to guess in the past, I'd say we didn't have HR.

**[00:28:26]** When we grew from eighteen to fifty, there was simply no HR.

**[00:28:30]** I firmly believe HR—please, let's not call it human resources,

**[00:28:34]** it's more about human relationships than human resources,

**[00:28:38]** is the most overlooked team in companies.

**[00:28:42]** I say 'team' deliberately; I don't like the word 'department.'

**[00:28:46]** When you build a company, you don't want to separate, you want to connect.

**[00:28:50]** Teams should cooperate rather than creating silos where each is its own department.

**[00:28:54]** Proper HR helps with that.

**[00:28:58]** Always to prevent silos and ensure teams cooperate.

**[00:29:02]** That's the absolutely key role of HR. Terka started focusing on HR

**[00:29:06]** when we were about ten, to have HR as early as possible.

**[00:29:10]** With five people, you don't need it; you can talk everything out.

**[00:29:14]** But once you start growing, HR becomes absolutely essential.

**[00:29:18]** And as you grow, if you know your values at the start,

**[00:29:22]** it's kind of natural. But at 20, 25, 30 people, you realize

**[00:29:26]** you need to anchor those values. It's no longer automatic,

**[00:29:30]** you need to communicate and align on what the values are. Don't forget that,

**[00:29:34]** it's very important so you don't ruin the company culture.

**[00:29:38]** I have a tip I'm very proud of. We call it Training Week.

**[00:29:42]** When hiring people, I always say that when you hire someone,

**[00:29:46]** you can pretend, polish the company like a golden nugget.

**[00:29:50]** And the candidate can act like Superman,

**[00:29:54]** but it doesn't work. So we thought, what to do?

**[00:30:00]** Do one or two trial days and see if it works.

**[00:30:05]** That was too little. Today, when you apply,

**[00:30:08]** we'll say, OK, great, you meet some criteria we want,

**[00:30:11]** but come to us for a week. Come try it for a week,

**[00:30:14]** so you see we’re not lying, we’re not sugarcoating the company,

**[00:30:18]** and you won’t be disappointed. You get to try the real work,

**[00:30:22]** and we get to know you. We see if you fit the team,

**[00:30:25]** how you behave. Typically, for one position, we have about three candidates.

**[00:30:30]** We’re not a highly competitive company. And if we have someone,

**[00:30:34]** who clearly isn’t a team player but dominates,

**[00:30:37]** for us, among those three, that’s a sign it won’t work.

**[00:30:40]** I think companies attract similarly minded people,

**[00:30:43]** because what typically happens in training is that they bond

**[00:30:47]** and become like a team, which is great. On one hand, and on the other hand

**[00:30:50]** you usually have a problem choosing someone. But you know those trainings

**[00:30:53]** help you a lot. It's paid, we pay those people for that week,

**[00:30:56]** they often have to take vacation, but this really,

**[00:31:00]** really helps with future turnover.

**[00:31:03]** You can endure pretending for two hours in an interview for a week.

**[00:31:07]** You can't pretend for a whole week. Neither can the company.

**[00:31:11]** Typically, there's ideally a beer during the week.

**[00:31:15]** It's a comfortably key thing that helped us

**[00:31:18]** to select people well during the team's growth.

**[00:31:21]** And it wasn't two failures right away, but the first was over time, of course.

**[00:31:24]** Job descriptions, onboarding plans, also very important.

**[00:31:27]** Basically, define what you want from the position.

**[00:31:30]** It can change, and it usually does,

**[00:31:33]** but also push the leader a bit to think it through well,

**[00:31:38]** so the onboarding plan, the first three months, are clearly set.

**[00:31:41]** You can also have a clear plan for Training Week,

**[00:31:44]** what you want from it. Our goal is also that even if it doesn't work out,

**[00:31:47]** they leave with some experience, understanding

**[00:31:50]** how the company can operate, maybe a bit differently,

**[00:31:53]** so it moves them forward. And during those critical first three months,

**[00:31:56]** when the person starts, you need to have

**[00:31:59]** milestones for what they should and shouldn't do and where you want to move them,

**[00:32:02]** so you can give feedback. Without this,

**[00:32:05]** how do you evaluate? You can't evaluate it.

**[00:32:08]** Then it's just hmm, maybe it's good, maybe not.

**[00:32:11]** And one-to-one development meetings, we dealt with competency matrices,

**[00:32:15]** systematically advancing people, giving feedback.

**[00:32:18]** Our leaders have one-to-ones where operations aren't discussed,

**[00:32:23]** they have them from six weeks, just after six weeks,

**[00:32:26]** I have them with my team once every twelve weeks.

**[00:32:29]** And each leader probably sets it up their own way.

**[00:32:31]** It's about moving someone forward, giving feedback,

**[00:32:34]** also to the leader themselves, competency matrices,

**[00:32:38]** and some system for further developing people.

**[00:32:40]** And of course, with growth, when you grow this fast,

**[00:32:43]** you realize you need to hire more experienced people,

**[00:32:45]** who can quickly bring value

**[00:32:49]** and move you forward faster than learning it gradually.

**[00:32:54]** It works, but not with such rapid scaling.

**[00:32:57]** At the same time, that whole thing of quickly firing and quickly hiring,

**[00:33:02]** that's not really my style. I want to develop people.

**[00:33:06]** And also taking a more experienced person,

**[00:33:09]** who might become a team leader, and making that happen,

**[00:33:11]** that's also the goal—to help them advance the people under them.

**[00:33:14]** To be a role model for them, to be able to lead them.

**[00:33:18]** So I'm not the type to say you should fire people every time

**[00:33:21]** the company reaches a bigger scale.

**[00:33:23]** I believe it can be done differently, in a humane and respectful way.

**[00:33:26]** And it's up to you to help those people grow so they can keep up in the company.

**[00:33:31]** And if you then complain that they can't keep up, that's your fault.

**[00:33:35]** Usually it's more your fault than theirs,

**[00:33:38]** because you gave me too much trust.

**[00:33:41]** Communication, context. I always say communicate more and more.

**[00:33:44]** The more you grow. I think we were still a small company.

**[00:33:47]** 35 people in the office, still fun.

**[00:33:49]** It's a completely different scale when you have 500 people.

**[00:33:51]** But even then, you have to figure out how to communicate.

**[00:33:54]** Constantly provide context for the steps you take,

**[00:33:57]** because you are constantly changing things, constantly changing things.

**[00:34:00]** You go left or you go right.

**[00:34:02]** You go straight and then turn 180 because it doesn't work.

**[00:34:06]** And you always have to provide context.

**[00:34:08]** All Hands once a month with breakfast works great.

**[00:34:11]** When we were bigger, we also had

**[00:34:14]** a mini All Hands one Wednesday a month in the afternoon for an hour,

**[00:34:17]** where we would dive deep into a specific topic.

**[00:34:21]** At the big morning All Hands with breakfast,

**[00:34:24]** each team presents what they did and their plans going forward.

**[00:34:28]** We introduced OKRs.

**[00:34:30]** You don't need OKRs with a small number of people.

**[00:34:33]** You can have a simpler system, some kind of capitalization,

**[00:34:36]** but once you have 25-30 people, you realize OKRs are great because

**[00:34:39]** they help reduce communication overload.

**[00:34:42]** They clearly define objective results that the company is aiming for.

**[00:34:45]** And they make it much easier to communicate the company's priorities.

**[00:34:49]** Sure, SLEG, we have two important channels there: announcements and planning.

**[00:34:55]** For announcements, it's really necessary to announce things clearly,

**[00:34:58]** so people understand them.

**[00:35:01]** So they can handle it even now in smaller numbers.

**[00:35:03]** So the information is available in advance.

**[00:35:05]** So the other teams, where maybe it doesn't reach you,

**[00:35:07]** know that the other team, hey, I should know this,

**[00:35:09]** but the original team just didn't pass it on.

**[00:35:11]** So we try to eliminate those risks,

**[00:35:13]** that something is released in dev and some team is disappointed, sad,

**[00:35:17]** because something broke for them.

**[00:35:20]** And Opendoor, Jitka Dvořáková always said,

**[00:35:22]** that when I have an open door, it means,

**[00:35:24]** anyone can come anytime.

**[00:35:26]** When the door is closed, it means they can't.

**[00:35:28]** I've always been with the team in the office from the start.

**[00:35:31]** We just sit in the offices and I've always been with the team.

**[00:35:34]** The only time I'm not there is when I have some business trip,

**[00:35:36]** so I'm somewhere else.

**[00:35:38]** But Opendoor means anyone can come and ask anytime.

**[00:35:41]** This is about leading people to responsibility.

**[00:35:44]** If something isn't clear to me, it's your responsibility,

**[00:35:47]** not mine.

**[00:35:49]** I can try harder, but if you don't listen,

**[00:35:52]** then sometimes you have to return some things back to those people

**[00:35:55]** and make sure they are responsible too, not just me.

**[00:35:59]** And I think it works well.

**[00:36:02]** Sure, team buildings are necessary.

**[00:36:04]** We go out, have fun, it's a lot of fun.

**[00:36:08]** We introduced ClickUp across the whole company,

**[00:36:10]** a project management tool.

**[00:36:12]** You realize you need to systematize it a bit.

**[00:36:14]** Today every team really has its own space,

**[00:36:17]** its own inbox, and it's recorded, visible,

**[00:36:20]** what state it's in.

**[00:36:22]** It took us time. At first, it was typically devs,

**[00:36:24]** who used Trello before, then we switched to ClickUp,

**[00:36:26]** to have the whole company there.

**[00:36:28]** Very important.

**[00:36:30]** It actually helps people. At the start, everyone

**[00:36:32]** had notes stuck everywhere,

**[00:36:34]** so we try to get the whole company to use ClickUp.

**[00:36:38]** Benefits and home office.

**[00:36:40]** Like other companies,

**[00:36:42]** we also deal with benefits.

**[00:36:44]** One of the benefits we introduced,

**[00:36:46]** as we said, doesn't always work out,

**[00:36:48]** is unlimited vacation. It sounds great,

**[00:36:50]** it's nice for people who know how to handle it.

**[00:36:52]** Because for many people, we found out,

**[00:36:54]** that unlimited vacation is

**[00:36:56]** quite abstract

**[00:36:58]** and there's this fear that others will think,

**[00:37:00]** I'm always slacking off somewhere,

**[00:37:02]** not going to work, and they were afraid

**[00:37:04]** to use that benefit.

**[00:37:06]** So in the end, we introduced

**[00:37:08]** something we call flexible,

**[00:37:10]** up to 30 days a year,

**[00:37:12]** including some sick days,

**[00:37:14]** and maybe an interesting point,

**[00:37:16]** we have vacation contributions.

**[00:37:18]** It's not a big cash bonus,

**[00:37:20]** but there is something, and we pay it out when you don't work

**[00:37:22]** on vacation. We don't want you to work on vacation.

**[00:37:24]** Vacation is for you to rest,

**[00:37:26]** to recharge. We do work that is

**[00:37:28]** simply demanding and we don't want

**[00:37:30]** you working during vacation.

**[00:37:32]** And of course, we struggled

**[00:37:34]** with home office, COVID completely

**[00:37:36]** disrupted it, so we only met

**[00:37:38]** online, of course, like you probably did when you

**[00:37:40]** worked. And today we have

**[00:37:42]** a 3 plus 2 regime for people in Prague,

**[00:37:44]** which means three days in the office,

**[00:37:46]** two days home office,

**[00:37:48]** and two days

**[00:37:50]** in the office for those outside Prague,

**[00:37:52]** three days home office.

**[00:37:54]** It's a bit

**[00:37:56]** pressuring sometimes, but I

**[00:37:58]** just said that you

**[00:38:00]** You need the team to meet.

**[00:38:02]** That interaction

**[00:38:04]** just online will

**[00:38:06]** sooner or later

**[00:38:08]** start to undermine the culture. There can be

**[00:38:10]** functional companies like that, I respect it,

**[00:38:12]** I can't do it. I think

**[00:38:14]** we can't do it, we need to live

**[00:38:16]** together at least a little. At the same time,

**[00:38:18]** I'm not building a family business.

**[00:38:20]** I totally agree with Jitka here,

**[00:38:22]** I don't want to replace family.

**[00:38:24]** I don't want to replace family, I want

**[00:38:26]** to have a great functioning team, more like a parallel

**[00:38:28]** to a sports team that works well.

**[00:38:30]** But it's necessary for the team

**[00:38:32]** to meet, to live together, to

**[00:38:34]** share, because online you only say the key things,

**[00:38:36]** not the rest.

**[00:38:38]** And often the rest is maybe

**[00:38:40]** many times more important than you think.

**[00:38:42]** Meeting in the kitchen

**[00:38:44]** and saying, oh wow,

**[00:38:46]** you almost never get that online.

**[00:38:50]** So we have it set up like this.

**[00:38:56]** Now a few short slides,

**[00:38:58]** it's not that simple.

**[00:39:02]** Something is happening, it won't be that easy.

**[00:39:06]** 224, sorry, 221.

**[00:39:12]** The fall of Bohem Energy.

**[00:39:14]** If you remember it,

**[00:39:16]** a big electricity provider,

**[00:39:18]** 1.2 million households,

**[00:39:20]** mostly regional, not so much Prague,

**[00:39:22]** because it hit many of our customers.

**[00:39:24]** And energy prices at that moment

**[00:39:26]** doubled for many people.

**[00:39:28]** Or it was that

**[00:39:30]** they didn't pay 3 thousand, but 6 thousand.

**[00:39:32]** And for a house not 6 thousand, but 12 thousand.

**[00:39:34]** And we felt it very quickly.

**[00:39:36]** And then a panic started.

**[00:39:38]** The first panic in the media.

**[00:39:40]** When you say 221, and then 40,

**[00:39:42]** hey, energy prices will crash.

**[00:39:44]** And we had to react.

**[00:39:46]** Actually very quickly, because we

**[00:39:48]** figured out the business and helped to relieve it.

**[00:39:50]** If we thought in mid-221,

**[00:39:52]** that it could reach 450,

**[00:39:54]** 470 million, it was clear to us

**[00:39:56]** that we wouldn't make it.

**[00:39:58]** Even 415 at the end would be great, like it was before,

**[00:40:00]** but the expectations were different at that moment.

**[00:40:05]** And we saw that these energy costs were rising and we knew

**[00:40:10]** that it would be a problem for us too, that we needed to change something.

**[00:40:14]** And the first thing was that we knew we had to raise commissions.

**[00:40:19]** We raised commissions for our suppliers, we are a marketplace,

**[00:40:22]** we take commissions. The product doesn't sell itself, it's a marketplace

**[00:40:25]** like Allegro, like Amazon, where you buy and the invoice is from the supplier.

**[00:40:30]** And we knew that energy costs would catch up with us in the warehouse,

**[00:40:33]** and that it might reflect in the final prices.

**[00:40:36]** We really didn't expect how much it would affect

**[00:40:38]** but it affected the final prices in a completely different way.

**[00:40:40]** And we knew we needed to raise them.

**[00:40:42]** So we raised from 25% to 27% and at the same time we changed

**[00:40:46]** the commission scheme, which was even more painful,

**[00:40:48]** in my opinion, for our organizers, as we moved to a progressive system.

**[00:40:52]** Because we knew that when the group is small

**[00:40:54]** and we sell goods for a thousand crowns,

**[00:40:56]** it's always a loss.

**[00:40:58]** And before, we had 7.5% for everyone,

**[00:41:00]** always as a credit exchange.

**[00:41:02]** And we knew we had to change something,

**[00:41:04]** that it wasn't sustainable.

**[00:41:06]** And basically we said, we'd gladly share with you,

**[00:41:08]** if it makes economic sense.

**[00:41:10]** So we made the commission progressive.

**[00:41:13]** There was a lot of backlash from that.

**[00:41:15]** No, but it was necessary.

**[00:41:17]** And you just make decisions,

**[00:41:19]** that simply aren't popular,

**[00:41:21]** and you know you have to make them.

**[00:41:23]** Alright, so we said,

**[00:41:25]** we'll postpone it to January.

**[00:41:27]** We slow down, cut back, save, no layoffs.

**[00:41:29]** We leave our amazing villa.

**[00:41:31]** We believe we will move.

**[00:41:33]** But I believed,

**[00:41:35]** that we would withstand it.

**[00:41:37]** It was early January,

**[00:41:39]** around the first half of January, I started modeling further.

**[00:41:41]** I said, no, it won't work.

**[00:41:43]** The increase we made isn't enough.

**[00:41:45]** We simply have to go into cutting back as much as possible.

**[00:41:47]** But I didn't want to fire people.

**[00:41:49]** I thought I could save a lot,

**[00:41:51]** a lot of costs.

**[00:41:53]** Communication came in.

**[00:41:55]** I have to say, it was even harder for the people.

**[00:41:57]** It was even harder what came next.

**[00:41:59]** How they saw the company flourishing,

**[00:42:01]** and suddenly it was about saving.

**[00:42:03]** And the people we expected,

**[00:42:05]** most of the people we counted on,

**[00:42:07]** where we could grow as leaders,

**[00:42:09]** build our own teams,

**[00:42:11]** suddenly it wouldn't happen.

**[00:42:13]** Suddenly, that project development of ours,

**[00:42:15]** like branded products, wouldn't happen either.

**[00:42:17]** A big blow to morale,

**[00:42:19]** that suddenly you can't realize all the amazing things we had planned.

**[00:42:21]** Alright.

**[00:42:23]** February 2022. Black month.

**[00:42:25]** Russian tanks in Ukraine.

**[00:42:27]** And of course what it triggered,

**[00:42:29]** and in the end record inflation,

**[00:42:31]** it hit us hard.

**[00:42:39]** Of course

**[00:42:41]** it's still just business.

**[00:42:43]** We're only dealing with business.

**[00:42:47]** March 2022.

**[00:42:49]** About a month and a half,

**[00:42:51]** so suddenly I see

**[00:42:53]** that the business, when we saw those tanks,

**[00:42:55]** was down 10% in a week.

**[00:42:57]** And the curve kept

**[00:42:59]** going down.

**[00:43:01]** We can't do without guidance.

**[00:43:03]** It doesn't work. We're struggling with a quarter of the team.

**[00:43:05]** And some bad plan is kicking in.

**[00:43:07]** Really tough.

**[00:43:09]** Really tough, but again.

**[00:43:11]** We had to react quickly.

**[00:43:13]** And the faster you, as they say,

**[00:43:15]** eat the frog,

**[00:43:17]** sorry to vegetarians

**[00:43:19]** and vegans, but

**[00:43:21]** you need to make those decisions fast.

**[00:43:23]** Don't wait. Naivety

**[00:43:25]** has to go aside here. Saying it will be fine.

**[00:43:27]** We told ourselves

**[00:43:29]** it would be fine, but when you see the signs,

**[00:43:31]** you have to pull your head out of the sand

**[00:43:33]** and make decisions quickly.

**[00:43:35]** Crisis mode

**[00:43:37]** 2022

**[00:43:39]** emergency funding.

**[00:43:41]** How do I put this?

**[00:43:43]** It means the founder is crying.

**[00:43:45]** Because

**[00:43:47]** diluting the shares

**[00:43:49]** isn't ideal, but we needed help from investors.

**[00:43:51]** We knew we couldn't handle it alone.

**[00:43:53]** And really big thanks

**[00:43:55]** to our investors for helping us.

**[00:43:57]** Because we would have taken the financial hit.

**[00:43:59]** Without it, we wouldn't be here today.

**[00:44:01]** And alongside that, of course,

**[00:44:03]** we need some kind of plan. It can't just be that you say,

**[00:44:05]** this is an event, take the money, and we'll go on as before.

**[00:44:07]** So we created a kind of triathlon.

**[00:44:09]** We cut costs wherever we could.

**[00:44:11]** Even further, when in January I thought,

**[00:44:13]** it can't get any worse, it can.

**[00:44:15]** The chart of accounts, every account,

**[00:44:17]** you go into detail. You say,

**[00:44:19]** this we must do, this we can do differently, this we will transfer.

**[00:44:21]** We assemble the team

**[00:44:23]** like this. It just has to

**[00:44:25]** work somehow. You optimize operations,

**[00:44:27]** automate what you can, you try to automate.

**[00:44:29]** But at the same time, we try

**[00:44:31]** to do something for development.

**[00:44:33]** We say, one side is costs,

**[00:44:35]** and let's try something with revenue.

**[00:44:37]** We launch new services, home delivery,

**[00:44:39]** and home drop-offs,

**[00:44:41]** and professional pick-up points. Home delivery,

**[00:44:43]** which we didn't want to do at all at first.

**[00:44:45]** But at the same time, when we started to address

**[00:44:47]** some initial customer surveys in week 22,

**[00:44:49]** to see if the business was slowly,

**[00:44:51]** what the problem was, why they stopped buying.

**[00:44:53]** At that time, it wasn't so much,

**[00:44:55]** like inflation. There was some,

**[00:44:57]** but the survey showed a lot, yeah,

**[00:44:59]** it's expensive, so OK.

**[00:45:01]** But it's inflexible.

**[00:45:03]** One pick-up day a week and I have to go there.

**[00:45:05]** It's not for everyone.

**[00:45:07]** Simply the system we launched

**[00:45:09]** and what we did, we said OK.

**[00:45:11]** What could we do with it is,

**[00:45:13]** for customers who don't want to go through this,

**[00:45:15]** we can deliver it to their homes.

**[00:45:17]** Or we start developing professional pick-up points,

**[00:45:19]** which are open every day.

**[00:45:21]** And there we quickly started to run into the fact that

**[00:45:23]** our community spot,

**[00:45:25]** typically we do it like this,

**[00:45:27]** we bring it there in crates

**[00:45:29]** and the organizer sorts it out for each customer themselves.

**[00:45:31]** So besides doing marketing,

**[00:45:33]** they also distribute the goods and sort them

**[00:45:35]** and by that expression, we simplified the complexities

**[00:45:37]** of our business.

**[00:45:39]** For the warehouse guy, sure, of course he has a ledger,

**[00:45:41]** Whatsapp set up and so on.

**[00:45:43]** But this is a barrier.

**[00:45:45]** This is a barrier when you want to expand the network.

**[00:45:47]** When you want to expand it to cafes, restaurants,

**[00:45:49]** delis, pastry shops, health food stores,

**[00:45:51]** the feedback was, we don't have time for that.

**[00:45:53]** As we said, we'll do a Zásilkovna-style model.

**[00:45:55]** Meaning, we'll already deliver it there

**[00:45:57]** sorted and packed, and they will just distribute it like that.

**[00:45:59]** Great. So we also set up pick-up points.

**[00:46:01]** But it's not enough.

**[00:46:03]** It's not enough.

**[00:46:05]** In October 2022, we increase commissions.

**[00:46:07]** Again.

**[00:46:09]** We raise it to 30%. We haven't increased it further.

**[00:46:11]** We're at 30% of the final price.

**[00:46:13]** For our suppliers.

**[00:46:15]** More people leave.

**[00:46:17]** We don't look for replacements. It culminates with,

**[00:46:19]** in late 2022, my co-founder Jakub

**[00:46:21]** saying that

**[00:46:23]** he needs to leave.

**[00:46:25]** I wasn't mad at Jakub.

**[00:46:27]** Kuba worked for five years.

**[00:46:29]** I would say brilliantly.

**[00:46:31]** He helped from scratch. He got it where it is now.

**[00:46:33]** And the fact that

**[00:46:35]** he realized he needed a change,

**[00:46:37]** it's better that he told me in time,

**[00:46:39]** than to suffer there.

**[00:46:41]** I always say that even the people who left,

**[00:46:43]** when we weren't firing anyone, you realize that in a crisis,

**[00:46:45]** in that tough period,

**[00:46:47]** those people stop feeling comfortable.

**[00:46:49]** And for me, it's better when they come and say,

**[00:46:51]** this doesn't suit me. So I'm happy to help them

**[00:46:53]** find somewhere else, because it's not good for me,

**[00:46:55]** the company, or them.

**[00:46:57]** And

**[00:46:59]** typically, even when we were firing people,

**[00:47:01]** or when people leave, that's how we do it.

**[00:47:03]** I have a somewhat tougher

**[00:47:05]** approach. I still want it to be

**[00:47:07]** the best aspect, but it has to be quick.

**[00:47:09]** No dragging it out for two months during the notice period.

**[00:47:11]** And

**[00:47:13]** the person has no motivation. I don't want them to be upset.

**[00:47:15]** They aren't. They aren't. And the team

**[00:47:17]** also senses that the person has lost motivation.

**[00:47:19]** And on the other hand, you know

**[00:47:21]** you can't avoid it anyway.

**[00:47:23]** You will have to do it differently, you need to get the person back.

**[00:47:25]** Jump in headfirst. Don't wait for some

**[00:47:27]** notice period. Whenever we hold on to the notice period,

**[00:47:29]** it's usually a problem.

**[00:47:31]** Yes, with Jacob we did it so that

**[00:47:33]** he stayed in the company for two more months.

**[00:47:35]** But towards the end, he didn't have much motivation either.

**[00:47:37]** At least he's a co-founder and owns part of the company,

**[00:47:39]** but it's natural. You can't be mad at people.

**[00:47:41]** So whenever I stepped back from that,

**[00:47:43]** I left it to the leader. Let them decide

**[00:47:45]** if they want to keep the person there. And if they say,

**[00:47:47]** hey, I really want them for those two months,

**[00:47:49]** then it's their decision. But typically we know

**[00:47:51]** it's just bad, because you can see

**[00:47:53]** it's not working.

**[00:47:55]** So say goodbye with respect,

**[00:47:57]** thank them, and help those people

**[00:47:59]** on their next journey.

**[00:48:01]** And the leader's role is typically, when dealing with developers.

**[00:48:03]** And when the person is not satisfied,

**[00:48:05]** not satisfied long-term, then the leader's role

**[00:48:07]** is to help them. And if that help

**[00:48:09]** means they will be happier elsewhere,

**[00:48:11]** then it is their duty

**[00:48:13]** to help that person with it.

**[00:48:17]** And when Kuba was still

**[00:48:19]** leaving, my biggest concern was

**[00:48:21]** more about how the team would take it.

**[00:48:23]** And I get

**[00:48:25]** numb to it, because we had

**[00:48:27]** every month someone announcing they were quitting.

**[00:48:29]** At every All Hands, you already

**[00:48:31]** almost had a knot in your stomach, waiting for someone to come

**[00:48:33]** and say, I can't do this, I need to leave.

**[00:48:35]** I always knew shortly in advance,

**[00:48:37]** that it would be at the All Hands.

**[00:48:39]** And it was crazy for the team, by the way.

**[00:48:41]** And with Kuba, I

**[00:48:43]** was really afraid it would be even worse, but actually

**[00:48:45]** maybe we were so numb by then,

**[00:48:47]** that we said, okay, we'll handle it.

**[00:48:49]** We can manage it.

**[00:48:51]** And the guys under him grew a lot,

**[00:48:53]** because they took on even more responsibility.

**[00:48:55]** And I have a fantastic, wild

**[00:48:57]** team that has two and a half people.

**[00:48:59]** And...

**[00:49:01]** yeah, so I jumped back

**[00:49:03]** again.

**[00:49:05]** Well,

**[00:49:07]** we fell from 415 million to 303.

**[00:49:09]** So,

**[00:49:11]** about 28 percent,

**[00:49:13]** something like that.

**[00:49:15]** So we were actually missing 30 million in revenue.

**[00:49:17]** Yeah, of course some costs

**[00:49:19]** go down, sure, in some

**[00:49:23]** At times, if we hadn't saved,

**[00:49:25]** it looked like we'd simply be 25-30 million

**[00:49:27]** in the red.

**[00:49:29]** In the end, we ended up with a loss of 10. It's still a lot, yeah.

**[00:49:31]** It's still a lot.

**[00:49:33]** Alright.

**[00:49:35]** Now it's starting to get a bit better, yeah.

**[00:49:37]** A bit of a slump, a little slump.

**[00:49:39]** In 2.23 we have to make a profit.

**[00:49:41]** So we'll continue in this slump for a while longer.

**[00:49:43]** Layden 2.23.

**[00:49:45]** Again.

**[00:49:47]** We can't do without another team downsizing.

**[00:49:49]** We have to lay off people again.

**[00:49:51]** That was the last layoff.

**[00:49:53]** For me, the hardest of all,

**[00:49:55]** because I was letting go of people who had been with us

**[00:49:57]** just like that,

**[00:49:59]** Kačka.

**[00:50:00]** Five years, almost four,

**[00:50:02]** really hard,

**[00:50:04]** hard, hard, hard, hard.

**[00:50:06]** Plus, we were friends, practically family by then.

**[00:50:08]** And it was really, really complicated.

**[00:50:10]** But

**[00:50:12]** it was necessary.

**[00:50:14]** And at the same time, according to her, we have part of the warehouse.

**[00:50:16]** We started taking steps from 2020 until the end of the year,

**[00:50:18]** when we simplified the business a bit,

**[00:50:20]** reduced complexity, so we had space to

**[00:50:22]** partially rent it out and keep the key parts.

**[00:50:24]** On March first,

**[00:50:26]** we have another office move.

**[00:50:28]** We moved from Vila to Karlín, to a smaller place,

**[00:50:30]** then less than a year later,

**[00:50:32]** we moved to an even smaller one.

**[00:50:34]** I said I'd rather move the office myself.

**[00:50:36]** We'll do it ourselves and save

**[00:50:38]** thirty thousand a month than

**[00:50:40]** lay off anyone else.

**[00:50:42]** We are developing

**[00:50:44]** home delivery, we're really pushing it hard.

**[00:50:46]** V-day events too.

**[00:50:48]** And we're trying a meaningful benefit for the company.

**[00:50:50]** That was

**[00:50:52]** probably the third attempt to get into the company.

**[00:50:54]** Actually, when we decided, we want to go into the company

**[00:50:56]** to reach the employees, not the company itself,

**[00:50:58]** like doing something for the company.

**[00:51:00]** And when we said, let's do something for the company,

**[00:51:02]** that we could present some benefit

**[00:51:04]** and that employees could pick it up

**[00:51:06]** at the office. The first attempt was the

**[00:51:08]** wines, that was nonsense, it really didn't work.

**[00:51:10]** The second attempt was that we tried to do our usual V-day spots with them,

**[00:51:12]** so there was feedback, but here,

**[00:51:14]** HR or back-office doesn't have time to sort it out for anyone.

**[00:51:16]** We said, OK, so now we have the bags.

**[00:51:18]** We can deliver them to the parcel shop.

**[00:51:20]** We managed to get

**[00:51:22]** Czech Savings Bank.

**[00:51:24]** Two branches, maybe three or four even.

**[00:51:26]** It doesn't work.

**[00:51:28]** But I say this is not

**[00:51:30]** the last attempt. We'll give

**[00:51:32]** the companies another chance. I already know how.

**[00:51:34]** We'll try again.

**[00:51:36]** We keep opening paths.

**[00:51:38]** We're launching cashback and tips

**[00:51:40]** at the end of the year

**[00:51:42]** for various contributions. Cashback...

**[00:51:44]** But we never wanted

**[00:51:46]** the focus to be on discounts.

**[00:51:48]** It just doesn't work without discounts now.

**[00:51:50]** It doesn't.

**[00:51:52]** So suppliers can run discount campaigns,

**[00:51:54]** etc. And we started to realize, yeah,

**[00:51:56]** that direct discounts actually don't amount to much.

**[00:51:58]** The customer, I think, buys during sales, but actually,

**[00:52:02]** that he would be motivated to come back again.

**[00:52:04]** And if he likes it, hopefully he'll return.

**[00:52:10]** If he is motivated to come back.

**[00:52:12]** That's cashback. So the supplier can say,

**[00:52:14]** hey, instead of a direct discount of 10 CZK on this product,

**[00:52:16]** I'll give you 10 CZK for your next purchase on the platform.

**[00:52:18]** And it will be great.

**[00:52:20]** It's one of the best product decisions we've made.

**[00:52:22]** A voluntary tip, super.

**[00:52:24]** Sure, you could add a voluntary tip at the end of the cart,

**[00:52:26]** but...

**[00:52:28]** Look, we calculated,

**[00:52:30]** that it's not enough. At the end of the year, we launched

**[00:52:32]** another, not exactly

**[00:52:34]** popular feature, which is

**[00:52:36]** an operational contribution, as we call it.

**[00:52:38]** 13 CZK on every order.

**[00:52:40]** It's modeled after Volt, Foodora,

**[00:52:42]** where they call it a service fee or charge.

**[00:52:44]** But typically in marketplaces,

**[00:52:46]** it's something you don't pay for delivery,

**[00:52:48]** but there are other things

**[00:52:50]** that are obviously behind the scenes.

**[00:52:52]** And

**[00:52:54]** without it, it wouldn't work. We measured

**[00:52:56]** conversion and definitely nothing happened.

**[00:52:58]** But yes, some.

**[00:53:00]** Of course, one of them wasn't

**[00:53:02]** exactly a big hit again.

**[00:53:04]** I needed it.

**[00:53:06]** So.

**[00:53:08]** We end 2023 with

**[00:53:10]** 62 million, so we still dropped about 300 million.

**[00:53:12]** And

**[00:53:14]** it actually turned out,

**[00:53:16]** when I thought in 2022,

**[00:53:18]** that the first half of the year was bad,

**[00:53:20]** we actually still had some momentum.

**[00:53:22]** That there was some momentum, some residual strength

**[00:53:24]** in the business before that.

**[00:53:26]** And actually in 2023

**[00:53:28]** it was gone. On the contrary, the second half

**[00:53:30]** of 2023 was already comparable to the second half

**[00:53:32]** of 2022. But it was enough to

**[00:53:34]** compare.

**[00:53:36]** So. We end the year 2023

**[00:53:38]** with a gross operating profit.

**[00:53:40]** From minus ten,

**[00:53:42]** to a small operating profit, but it was

**[00:53:44]** very difficult. But

**[00:53:46]** it was necessary. We simply had to

**[00:53:48]** earn enough to cover ourselves.

**[00:53:50]** So. 2024. I'll quickly

**[00:53:52]** review. We haven't won yet.

**[00:53:54]** I think you never have won.

**[00:53:56]** We have to keep improving.

**[00:53:58]** We want to stay profitable.

**[00:54:00]** We're pushing into home delivery. Today

**[00:54:02]** it's available for 63% of the population

**[00:54:04]** in the Czech Republic. We already have home delivery available.

**[00:54:06]** And we will expand it further.

**[00:54:08]** We want to focus more on

**[00:54:10]** developing and caring for our communities and

**[00:54:12]** also VDN. We did a lot with VDN before, but directly

**[00:54:14]** in the address in the last two

**[00:54:16]** years, from the community side we

**[00:54:18]** actually lost one whole team,

**[00:54:20]** which took care of the communities.

**[00:54:22]** When it comes to customer care, simply the capacity

**[00:54:24]** was not there. It just didn't work.

**[00:54:26]** Now we're trying to return to it more.

**[00:54:28]** To take care of them much more.

**[00:54:30]** I would of course spend a lot

**[00:54:32]** and develop it.

**[00:54:34]** Vortoff has marketing.

**[00:54:36]** We typically grew because people

**[00:54:38]** talked about us. Either our organizers or our

**[00:54:40]** customers. We hardly had any money for marketing.

**[00:54:42]** We almost have none.

**[00:54:46]** And today we're approaching it a bit differently,

**[00:54:48]** because we say it's not just a journey for our organizers,

**[00:54:50]** but actually,

**[00:54:52]** we see it as a journey for customers too.

**[00:54:54]** And we launched an ambassador program,

**[00:54:56]** where you, as micro-influencers,

**[00:54:58]** can shop at better prices

**[00:55:00]** for some part

**[00:55:02]** of the assortment. But in return, we expect

**[00:55:04]** a review on social media. It doesn't mean,

**[00:55:06]** the review has to be boringly positive.

**[00:55:08]** We don't pressure anyone for that. We want authentic reviews.

**[00:55:10]** And today we already have

**[00:55:14]** ambassadors who

**[00:55:16]** regularly review our products on social media.

**[00:55:18]** And we're preparing some great new

**[00:55:20]** commodity features, which I believe will

**[00:55:22]** help us move forward again. We're launching

**[00:55:24]** a large trade. So today,

**[00:55:26]** by 9:00, we say you can offer

**[00:55:28]** goods through us. Small trade to end

**[00:55:30]** customers and now also large trade.

**[00:55:32]** In large trade, today we have

**[00:55:34]** about 70 out of the 280

**[00:55:36]** by 9:00,

**[00:55:38]** with around 4,000 products. And basically,

**[00:55:40]** the value is, when I go for health nutrition,

**[00:55:42]** I don't have to order from each supplier separately.

**[00:55:44]** Maybe we have a slightly higher large trade price,

**[00:55:46]** but no shipping fees. And you can

**[00:55:48]** order from five suppliers. Simply,

**[00:55:50]** when you order for some stores,

**[00:55:52]** you order from each supplier separately, and each has

**[00:55:54]** a minimum order and shipping fees.

**[00:55:56]** We combine that, but

**[00:55:58]** it can work even with a slightly higher price.

**[00:56:00]** We believe large trade can be

**[00:56:02]** one of the paths for us. The biggest

**[00:56:04]** challenge ahead is D++1 and stock inventory.

**[00:56:06]** We need to move forward.

**[00:56:08]** What worked before, when we delivered in D++4 mode,

**[00:56:10]** Sunday orders placed on Thursday, delivered like that,

**[00:56:12]** doesn't apply anymore, so we deliver

**[00:56:14]** in D++2 mode, but not for the core assortment.

**[00:56:16]** That warehouse is a bottleneck, we have no

**[00:56:18]** stock today. To be

**[00:56:20]** at D++1 or same day delivery in Prague,

**[00:56:22]** we need to build up stock.

**[00:56:24]** This is the biggest challenge ahead of us, this is what we need to manage.

**[00:56:28]** In conclusion.

**[00:56:30]** I am incredibly proud of the team.

**[00:56:32]** We went through

**[00:56:34]** a really tough period,

**[00:56:36]** and the

**[00:56:38]** core that stayed with us there,

**[00:56:40]** is incredible.

**[00:56:42]** They deserve huge respect.

**[00:56:44]** I am grateful.

**[00:56:46]** I am grateful to our organizers who are pulling this with us.

**[00:56:48]** I am grateful to our investors,

**[00:56:50]** the whole team. I am grateful to everyone who somehow contributed to this project,

**[00:56:52]** even those who joined us

**[00:56:54]** and maybe left along the way.

**[00:56:56]** They always left something behind.

**[00:56:58]** So, great gratitude.

**[00:57:00]** I think I will learn to appreciate success much more.

**[00:57:02]** But when you're in business,

**[00:57:04]** growing for 15 years,

**[00:57:06]** you kind of take it for granted.

**[00:57:08]** And when you suddenly realize,

**[00:57:10]** that it can also go completely the other way,

**[00:57:12]** I think learning to appreciate success,

**[00:57:14]** to celebrate it more,

**[00:57:16]** I believe I've grown in that.

**[00:57:18]** And every problem has a solution.

**[00:57:20]** Every one.

**[00:57:22]** Really, every one.

**[00:57:24]** It just takes time, that's all.

**[00:57:26]** And everything I do,

**[00:57:28]** we can do better.

**[00:57:30]** That's my life mantra. Everything I do,

**[00:57:32]** I can do better. I can.

**[00:57:34]** I can just keep improving it. Maybe that sounds like perfectionism.

**[00:57:36]** But when you realize that nothing

**[00:57:38]** is perfect, nothing can be perfect

**[00:57:40]** by nature, because it can always be better,

**[00:57:42]** then you accept that and improve it gradually.

**[00:57:44]** When we release something,

**[00:57:46]** we typically release it as some MVP.

**[00:57:48]** It's totally crappy at the start.

**[00:57:50]** We check if it works, and only then we improve it.

**[00:57:52]** If it works, ideally we discard it.

**[00:57:54]** So everything can be done better.

**[00:57:56]** I would like to thank you all very much.

**[00:57:58]** I vouch for our photo from the last

**[00:58:00]** teambuilding, where I see

**[00:58:02]** huge hope. When you look at those faces,

**[00:58:04]** it's still tough,

**[00:58:06]** but I would

**[00:58:08]** love to have such a great team,

**[00:58:10]** pulling together as one.

**[00:58:12]** I wish you all the best and thank you for your attention.

**[00:58:14]** Thanks for the lecture.

**[00:58:22]** I have an observation.

**[00:58:30]** The timing was great,

**[00:58:32]** this, this,

**[00:58:34]** but that's not the point.

**[00:58:36]** I find it fascinating

**[00:58:38]** how little of the lecture

**[00:58:40]** we clicked through,

**[00:58:42]** and you focus on

**[00:58:44]** how we grew from 4 million to 400,

**[00:58:46]** and then the decline,

**[00:58:48]** that's what you focused on.

**[00:58:50]** I'm actually wondering,

**[00:58:52]** if that was intentional,

**[00:58:54]** or if we shouldn't praise,

**[00:58:56]** because the way you

**[00:59:02]** he described all the measures,

**[00:59:04]** that fit here in this,

**[00:59:06]** for me, when I was in a few companies,

**[00:59:08]** they just dealt with it,

**[00:59:10]** it doesn't matter if it's a growth crisis or a loss,

**[00:59:12]** but it's still a crisis.

**[00:59:14]** It's a constant battle, whether you're going up or down.

**[00:59:16]** So try

**[00:59:18]** maybe to focus a little more

**[00:59:20]** on the period when we saw

**[00:59:22]** those beautiful charts that probably

**[00:59:24]** every entrepreneur would want to see.

**[00:59:26]** Or maybe not?

**[00:59:28]** No, it was intentional, because successes

**[00:59:30]** are talked about everywhere.

**[00:59:32]** And I think it's important to be able to talk about failures too

**[00:59:34]** and actually show that

**[00:59:36]** even failure can be turned around.

**[00:59:38]** The growth, sure, it was

**[00:59:40]** an incredible ride, as you say,

**[00:59:42]** so growth can also cause you to

**[00:59:44]** overextend.

**[00:59:48]** Look, I think, as I said,

**[00:59:50]** about the hypotheses of growth and value,

**[00:59:52]** when you hit the right thing and know how to fuel the growth engine,

**[00:59:54]** for us it was

**[00:59:56]** a lot about expanding pickup points, assortment,

**[00:59:58]** so basically, when you do this,

**[01:00:00]** and you do it well and don't have black swans that start ruining it,

**[01:00:05]** then it just works.

**[01:00:09]** Take my friend CZC, for example.

**[01:00:11]** CZC simply grew based on building those pickup points a lot.

**[01:00:14]** As soon as we opened a location,

**[01:00:18]** we knew we'd sell there.

**[01:00:22]** Heureka. Brilliant in that it mastered arbitrage.

**[01:00:25]** Completely PC, perfect, just an excellent product.

**[01:00:28]** Totally game-changing, verified by customers. Unbeatable.

**[01:00:31]** Every company has some growth engine talent that needs to be fueled.

**[01:00:35]** So we fueled pickup points, good onboarding, they started working with us.

**[01:00:39]** Normally, when you register a pickup point with us,

**[01:00:41]** You have mentoring there, tailor it so we can guide you through what's important.

**[01:00:45]** We'll teach you a bit of marketing.

**[01:00:47]** These are little bits that keep you spinning in the supplier loop.

**[01:00:52]** We dealt with the quality code, constantly developing it.

**[01:00:54]** We simply want to be the guarantor.

**[01:00:57]** There's not really one big thing in growth.

**[01:01:01]** It's a million tiny things you constantly tune and improve.

**[01:01:04]** But all one case in that growth.

**[01:01:06]** We started with our warehouse, so of course we had pencil and paper.

**[01:01:11]** There was no system.

**[01:01:13]** Then we came up with the first WMS, Warehouse Management System.

**[01:01:17]** Do you know Trello?

**[01:01:21]** One column was a supplier, one card was a product.

**[01:01:26]** And in the product card were the individual distribution points.

**[01:01:30]** The first WMS.

**[01:01:31]** Up to 50 suppliers, 50 columns, in the first 50 groups a fairly functional solution.

**[01:01:36]** Of course, we knew it wasn't scalable.

**[01:01:39]** But the funny thing is, when we launched the first WMS,

**[01:01:41]** really a WMS with barcodes,

**[01:01:43]** we gave it to our temp workers, who we only had for one day at a time,

**[01:01:46]** they were temp workers, university students.

**[01:01:48]** And they said, dude, like...

**[01:01:50]** Dude, this was actually better.

**[01:01:52]** Why change it?

**[01:01:53]** So I said, look, when the suppliers aren't 50 but 100,

**[01:01:56]** and the distribution points aren't 50 but 200,

**[01:01:58]** it won't be possible to handle it anymore.

**[01:02:00]** But it needs to show the path forward, that it can go further.

**[01:02:03]** So there are tons of really small things.

**[01:02:05]** Feel free to try something specific that interests you in growth.

**[01:02:08]** No, no, actually...

**[01:02:11]** Maybe the first thing, I'll go back to that.

**[01:02:14]** And there's actually the first question, the most liked one.

**[01:02:18]** Tell us how CICUK actually works.

**[01:02:22]** Because you say organizers this, some people actually don't know.

**[01:02:25]** Usually.

**[01:02:26]** Honestly, yes. And there's the question, what's the difference between Košík, Rohlík, and this.

**[01:02:30]** So try to describe what you actually do.

**[01:02:33]** Yeah.

**[01:02:33]** And especially how you do it.

**[01:02:35]** That it was about what interested me the most.

**[01:02:37]** It's a farmers' market, a marketplace where the first idea was,

**[01:02:42]** that we wouldn't do home delivery, but connect customers into communities, into groups.

**[01:02:46]** So we posted at key locations, which are actually set up by organizers,

**[01:02:51]** we call them organizers, who run the concept as a community.

**[01:02:53]** That was the foundation, the first idea of CICUK.

**[01:02:56]** And the organizer, today two-thirds are moms on maternity leave,

**[01:03:01]** or people who do it as a profit job.

**[01:03:04]** So you might go to someone's home, or to a community center,

**[01:03:09]** where they have a designated spot set up.

**[01:03:11]** Of course, you need to manage WhatsApp and the fridge, etc.

**[01:03:14]** But it's really community-based, not professionals.

**[01:03:16]** It has one big drawback: it's a typical one-day-a-week pickup.

**[01:03:20]** So you shop, we collect everything and deliver it to that one place.

**[01:03:24]** So even though we're a marketplace like Allegro,

**[01:03:27]** Allegro sends you packages separately, one by one.

**[01:03:30]** Here, we collect and deliver everything to one spot.

**[01:03:33]** And gradually, you start adding professional pickup points,

**[01:03:36]** like health food stores, restaurants, cafes,

**[01:03:38]** where, I say, the value is more than just a reward for a delivered package,

**[01:03:40]** it's about the relevant customer.

**[01:03:43]** Like Zásilkovna says.

**[01:03:44]** Only, I say, Zásilkovna orders from a sex shop or electronics to your health food store.

**[01:03:47]** And that customer isn't relevant.

**[01:03:52]** With us, the customer is very relevant.

**[01:03:53]** The person going to the health food store wants quality food.

**[01:03:55]** And we focused on Nika Tržín.

**[01:03:58]** So again, this farmers' market, today the thirteenth,

**[01:04:00]** produces a character of a farmers' assortment,

**[01:04:03]** a quality assortment.

**[01:04:05]** But it ranges from meat, dairy products,

**[01:04:06]** sausages, fruits and vegetables, long-lasting goods, everything.

**[01:04:09]** But there's also drugstore items, cosmetics.

**[01:04:12]** The range is huge nowadays.

**[01:04:15]** And the difference between us and Rohlík,

**[01:04:17]** is partly the marketplace principle.

**[01:04:20]** And we strongly push the story of the farmers.

**[01:04:22]** So we don't do any private labels.

**[01:04:24]** I think it will be a brutal trap for suppliers.

**[01:04:28]** Absolutely brutal.

**[01:04:29]** We can also have a bit of a fight later.

**[01:04:31]** And we push the stories of those suppliers.

**[01:04:33]** And you actually go to that specific supplier.

**[01:04:36]** And they actually compare us much more to a farmers' market.

**[01:04:39]** Or maybe to a specialty store.

**[01:04:41]** Just some specialty shop. We are a specialty shop.

**[01:04:43]** And Rohlík, Ušík, those are more like hypermarkets today.

**[01:04:46]** Like Kaufland, Globus, and so on.

**[01:04:48]** And we want to be an alternative alongside them.

**[01:04:50]** We don't have the ambition to beat Rohlík here.

**[01:04:52]** That would be nonsense.

**[01:04:54]** In terms of capital.

**[01:04:56]** We just want to be an alternative.

**[01:04:58]** When we were preparing the breakfast together,

**[01:05:01]** it was very interesting.

**[01:05:04]** You kept saying data, data, data.

**[01:05:06]** So what does the food market in the Czech Republic look like now?

**[01:05:11]** If you look at the news, they say,

**[01:05:14]** cheapest, everything with discounts, flyers.

**[01:05:17]** And we talked a bit about that.

**[01:05:19]** So try to say how you actually perceive it

**[01:05:21]** from the perspective of Nika,

**[01:05:23]** which is actually a specialty shop.

**[01:05:25]** Look, I think we've gone back ten years.

**[01:05:28]** To flyers.

**[01:05:30]** And the catch is that people no longer have

**[01:05:32]** printed flyers, but have five apps on their phones.

**[01:05:35]** You know, because of the crisis?

**[01:05:36]** Exactly, because of the crisis.

**[01:05:37]** Yes, the crisis really took us back ten years.

**[01:05:39]** But that's temporary.

**[01:05:41]** I'm still optimistic that there's always some

**[01:05:43]** amount of unmet need.

**[01:05:45]** So I believe it's starting to turn.

**[01:05:47]** So people are saving, people are saving a lot.

**[01:05:48]** E-commerce has definitely

**[01:05:50]** slowed down significantly.

**[01:05:52]** If today e-commerce in groceries

**[01:05:54]** makes up 8% of the total business.

**[01:05:57]** And that shows him that this is just the beginning.

**[01:06:00]** Nika does 55% online.

**[01:06:02]** Yeah, fashion, I don't know, 45, I don't know.

**[01:06:04]** Something like that.

**[01:06:06]** 40, maybe.

**[01:06:08]** And food won't grow.

**[01:06:10]** The question is whether it will take five years

**[01:06:12]** or ten years to reach

**[01:06:14]** a thirty percent share. And the market is huge.

**[01:06:16]** Our advantage is that we are Nika,

**[01:06:18]** but we are in a really big market.

**[01:06:20]** The market is at least 500 billion.

**[01:06:22]** Including offline. And I say that in such a big market

**[01:06:24]** Nika can be

**[01:06:26]** very interesting.

**[01:06:30]** I'll slowly

**[01:06:32]** move on to the questions here.

**[01:06:34]** Go ahead.

**[01:06:36]** What was the very first thing you did

**[01:06:38]** when you decided to start SUK?

**[01:06:40]** What was the very first thing?

**[01:06:42]** I think we went to a pub to celebrate.

**[01:06:44]** Probably.

**[01:06:48]** The first thing

**[01:06:50]** was simply

**[01:06:52]** coming up with the

**[01:06:54]** business model, how it should

**[01:06:56]** look, calculating

**[01:06:58]** some initial theses

**[01:07:00]** and refining the product.

**[01:07:02]** We said the customers are companies.

**[01:07:04]** Exactly these three questions.

**[01:07:06]** Who will be our customer, what value will we have,

**[01:07:08]** and how will we reach them.

**[01:07:10]** These are the three basic questions you must ask

**[01:07:12]** at the start, always, in my opinion.

**[01:07:14]** And start modeling something around that.

**[01:07:18]** I often encounter

**[01:07:20]** and now I'll say it out loud

**[01:07:22]** an interesting opinion,

**[01:07:24]** which you nicely broke down.

**[01:07:26]** And I see it exactly in the world

**[01:07:28]** of entrepreneurs.

**[01:07:30]** People who have no experience

**[01:07:32]** with business often think

**[01:07:34]** that once you reach

**[01:07:36]** a certain level of revenue or money,

**[01:07:38]** you're basically fine.

**[01:07:40]** That you're completely relaxed.

**[01:07:42]** And I talk to entrepreneurs

**[01:07:44]** who have billion-dollar companies.

**[01:07:46]** I talk to freelancers who have this.

**[01:07:48]** And the only difference is

**[01:07:50]** that there are more zeros, but otherwise

**[01:07:52]** they operate exactly the same.

**[01:07:54]** So I don't know many entrepreneurs

**[01:07:56]** who would have somewhere

**[01:07:58]** in the bank

**[01:08:00]** a huge pile of money.

**[01:08:02]** Except for Czech exceptions.

**[01:08:04]** And if by chance,

**[01:08:06]** I reach in and I'm basically fine.

**[01:08:08]** The game is the same,

**[01:08:10]** you just deal with different orders of magnitude.

**[01:08:12]** So the question actually

**[01:08:14]** shouldn't go anywhere,

**[01:08:16]** it's just a comment.

**[01:08:18]** And it's really

**[01:08:20]** nice for me that you showed this.

**[01:08:22]** Because

**[01:08:24]** the graph, as it grows,

**[01:08:26]** it's like smooth sailing,

**[01:08:28]** calm, parachute.

**[01:08:30]** And suddenly it starts to fall.

**[01:08:32]** And that can actually be

**[01:08:34]** anything these days.

**[01:08:36]** It's no longer that we have

**[01:08:38]** decades of stability.

**[01:08:40]** Suddenly artificial intelligence arrives.

**[01:08:42]** Or some competitor appears.

**[01:08:44]** Something will emerge here, something will do this here.

**[01:08:46]** And in my opinion, you just have to stay alert all the time.

**[01:08:48]** I'm going back to that change.

**[01:08:50]** From education to learning.

**[01:08:52]** And now the question occurred to me,

**[01:08:54]** as I'm talking about it.

**[01:08:56]** You have people around you,

**[01:08:58]** who actually experienced

**[01:09:00]** that journey with you.

**[01:09:02]** How do you ensure that really,

**[01:09:04]** as you said, left, right,

**[01:09:06]** you keep changing something

**[01:09:08]** in this, so they don't just lose it?

**[01:09:10]** Communication.

**[01:09:12]** Keep talking about it with them.

**[01:09:14]** There is no magic cure for it.

**[01:09:16]** You have to put things into context.

**[01:09:18]** You have to try to connect the dots.

**[01:09:20]** My role is not to be the best at everything.

**[01:09:22]** There have to be people better than me for that.

**[01:09:24]** And my role is to connect things,

**[01:09:26]** to be able to

**[01:09:28]** maybe see a bit

**[01:09:30]** around the corner, try to connect and explain it well.

**[01:09:32]** That's my role the most today.

**[01:09:34]** And somehow guide the company.

**[01:09:36]** So, keep communicating constantly.

**[01:09:38]** And yes, not everyone can handle it.

**[01:09:40]** And we also had many people who just couldn't handle it.

**[01:09:42]** It's demanding.

**[01:09:44]** Constant change.

**[01:09:46]** But actually...

**[01:09:50]** These changes...

**[01:09:52]** That's my life philosophy.

**[01:09:54]** I didn't enjoy it without that.

**[01:09:56]** When after those three years I felt,

**[01:09:58]** that I can't really develop further.

**[01:10:00]** push forward, that the final tuning is just not for me, I actually stopped enjoying it.

**[01:10:05]** I need to change things. So yes, I don't say it's extremely demanding, a terribly hard role.

**[01:10:11]** Yesterday, by chance, I had a discussion with Dita because we prepared the dev breakfasts

**[01:10:19]** And there was one interesting thing she told me, that she meets again with older people from older generations.

**[01:10:26]** And they say, or rather, she feels from them that they missed the train in technology.

**[01:10:34]** And she said, for me it's totally great and fascinating when I show them,

**[01:10:41]** that new trains keep arriving, and they can actually hop on again.

**[01:10:46]** If you didn't study computer science and didn't code, you were completely out of the loop.

**[01:10:53]** But now, if you jump on this wave, you're not out anymore.

**[01:10:58]** And some people start to have sparks in their eyes again, realizing it's not that far off,

**[01:11:03]** so maybe this can somehow restart something in people again,

**[01:11:09]** which I think can be good and relevant.

**[01:11:12]** There's an interesting question. You talked about Jitka, who was a guest, and you're in contact with Tomáš,

**[01:11:18]** from Heureka. These are two companies you have a lot of experience with.

**[01:11:23]** Then there's Střuk, which is your company. What are the main differences between your experiences?

**[01:11:29]** Or between those companies?

**[01:11:32]** These are completely different stories, basically their cultures are completely different.

**[01:11:39]** Maybe today we're closer to Heureka, to what I experienced in Heureka's company culture.

**[01:11:45]** But I think the big difference is in the so-called higher mission.

**[01:11:51]** It really helps us with hiring, today top people report to us,

**[01:11:55]** because they are tired of corporations or the constant chase just for growth.

**[01:12:02]** We also focus on growth because you need it.

**[01:12:05]** But you still have the context that you're doing something good.

**[01:12:08]** I think the impact was even bigger at Heureka in the early days.

**[01:12:13]** Especially in the beginning, it had a huge impact too.

**[01:12:15]** That was when buying online was dangerous.

**[01:12:18]** I can't imagine that today, but back then you could really get scammed.

**[01:12:21]** And Heureka was the pioneer that straightened out that mess.

**[01:12:24]** It deserves huge thanks because it really advanced e-commerce.

**[01:12:28]** Today, that's no longer its main role.

**[01:12:30]** So I think the big difference is in this.

**[01:12:33]** And sure, the culture is definitely different than it was at CVC,

**[01:12:37]** which was a great company but built a bit differently.

**[01:12:43]** When you had a shot of beer or tea,

**[01:12:47]** when you went to the pub and set up the table,

**[01:12:51]** what were your ambitions?

**[01:12:54]** My ambition was to start doing something with impact.

**[01:12:58]** I internally needed to start doing something where I could see,

**[01:13:02]** that it makes sense.

**[01:13:04]** If it weren't such a local, small company.

**[01:13:07]** Where were you aiming?

**[01:13:10]** The first idea was, let's measure ourselves in the Czech Republic and maybe one day abroad.

**[01:13:14]** But it wasn't something where you had some...

**[01:13:17]** Besides, I wanted to build a company where I want to be long-term.

**[01:13:20]** Never say never. It could happen that in five years I won't be at Stuk.

**[01:13:23]** Or in ten years I won't be. I don't know.

**[01:13:25]** One shouldn't say it's forever.

**[01:13:28]** But I wanted to do something long-term, trendy.

**[01:13:31]** At the start, it was that it had to make economic sense.

**[01:13:34]** I wouldn't do impact that's all sunshine,

**[01:13:37]** but without a solid business side.

**[01:13:40]** To combine what I learned in business with the fact

**[01:13:43]** that I could do something with a broader impact. That was the ambition.

**[01:13:46]** And I had the business model first.

**[01:13:49]** It was given. Because it was necessary.

**[01:13:52]** I wanted to have an ambition I really didn't have before.

**[01:13:55]** To build a happy company with good foundations, very free,

**[01:13:58]** where people would feel good

**[01:14:01]** and where we'd have a shared ultimate goal.

**[01:14:04]** I think I sometimes missed that.

**[01:14:07]** For example, at CVC.

**[01:14:14]** I'll try to marinate you in that a bit.

**[01:14:17]** Why?

**[01:14:20]** Because 'feeling good' means something different to everyone.

**[01:14:23]** So as a founder,

**[01:14:27]** you had this idea, which I communicated to the people.

**[01:14:30]** And it kind of sorted itself out in different ways.

**[01:14:33]** In the end, the people who stayed had a similar vision to yours.

**[01:14:36]** Is that roughly the process?

**[01:14:39]** I think so.

**[01:14:42]** I believe if the company had been running longer,

**[01:14:45]** the other people you hire, you hire for the vision, the idea.

**[01:14:48]** But you realize some people leave not because they quit you,

**[01:14:52]** but because they don't want to go through it.

**[01:14:55]** Because it's emotionally draining, demanding, mentally tough,

**[01:14:58]** the mess that surrounds it.

**[01:15:01]** So I think, with few exceptions, we did well hiring people

**[01:15:04]** who aligned with the values, the company's vision,

**[01:15:07]** and the mission. I think that worked well.

**[01:15:10]** And when someone left, it meant they weren't aligned or couldn't handle it.

**[01:15:13]** More mentally, really.

**[01:15:16]** That actually kept you there. Here's the question.

**[01:15:19]** What was the reason, the why, that you stayed at Stuk?

**[01:15:22]** What motivates you to endure and get through the tough times.

**[01:15:25]** That's the meaning. That's the inner meaning.

**[01:15:28]** As I said at the beginning, not giving up,

**[01:15:31]** I wasn't sure I had that in me before.

**[01:15:34]** Because when it stopped making sense to me, I moved on,

**[01:15:37]** but here I still see the meaning.

**[01:15:40]** For me, it's the favorite program, I think.

**[01:15:43]** I probably have that very strong inside me and maybe it's hidden somewhere.

**[01:15:46]** I like losing the least.

**[01:15:49]** But the meaning, that's the answer, in my opinion.

**[01:15:52]** I don't know, maybe it's a cliché, but feeling that it has impact,

**[01:15:55]** that we helped with something, for example during COVID,

**[01:15:58]** I think Zcuk played an absolutely crucial role

**[01:16:01]** in the survival of many of our suppliers.

**[01:16:04]** Their farmers' markets closed and their sales, like restaurants,

**[01:16:07]** and their sellers suffered. I think Zcuk is a beautiful brand,

**[01:16:10]** it's amazing. Also that we were able to supply

**[01:16:13]** a fairly large range, just a lot of people

**[01:16:16]** with quality food.

**[01:16:19]** How many people are you actually able to serve like this?

**[01:16:22]** Or were able to serve at the peak?

**[01:16:25]** Do you have an overview? I guess you do.

**[01:16:28]** Yes, yes, but last year, and last year we served

**[01:16:31]** thirty thousand customers, thirty-two thousand.

**[01:16:34]** What about your personal life? Can you keep it balanced at this pace?

**[01:16:37]** I think so. I went through a kind of

**[01:16:40]** brutal workaholism in my first business.

**[01:16:43]** Then at Heureka, I thought at the start,

**[01:16:46]** from 2006 to 2011, that I couldn't work more.

**[01:16:49]** Wrong. At Heureka, I proved I could work even more.

**[01:16:52]** And at CSC, I started to correct that a bit.

**[01:16:55]** And I founded the company also wanting a healthy business.

**[01:16:58]** A healthy company isn't one where you work 14-16 hours.

**[01:17:01]** 16-16 hours isn't healthy. It's not.

**[01:17:04]** Look, you see, sometimes I contacted a guy on LinkedIn at night,

**[01:17:07]** who said that if he works 120 hours a week and the competition 40,

**[01:17:10]** he'll be three times better. Jesus, that's such bullshit.

**[01:17:13]** Maybe one in a million can keep that up,

**[01:17:16]** but if you work 14 hours a day, like I did,

**[01:17:19]** 12, now I work 8 or 9.

**[01:17:22]** I don't do weekends, I don't work weekends. I don't expect it from anyone in the company,

**[01:17:25]** I don't. Even when situations happen that happen.

**[01:17:28]** There are moments when you dive in, but it's not the rule.

**[01:17:31]** And many of those companies, those startups feel

**[01:17:34]** that if they don't work 80 hours a week, they won't get anywhere.

**[01:17:37]** Look, if you grind people like that,

**[01:17:40]** you have to keep replacing them because you'll just burn them out.

**[01:17:43]** So you're constantly recruiting new people, always training someone,

**[01:17:46]** justifying it by saying there's a different scale now,

**[01:17:49]** so they can handle it better and are already better.

**[01:17:52]** A bit through your fingers, then someone looks at the originals who helped build it.

**[01:17:55]** Because behind every successful entrepreneur is the team.

**[01:17:58]** As individuals, we can't do anything.

**[01:18:01]** All those successful people you see in Forbes,

**[01:18:04]** are actually heaps of people. And there are two types of entrepreneurs.

**[01:18:07]** Those who have people behind them who are devastated,

**[01:18:10]** and those who maybe weren't as fast but don't have wreckage behind them.

**[01:18:14]** So I'd rather be slower but progress steadily.

**[01:18:17]** And when you work 14 hours a day, you make mistakes,

**[01:18:20]** then you spend a lot of time just fixing those mistakes.

**[01:18:24]** That's a huge mistake.

**[01:18:27]** I've tried both roles, so I've really worked hard.

**[01:18:30]** It's not the way. At least it's not my way.

**[01:18:33]** It can be anyone's way, of course. Definitely not mine.

**[01:18:36]** Greetings to Impact Hub, Míša.

**[01:18:39]** Do you have a recommendation for a leadership book?

**[01:18:42]** A theory that spoke to you, inspired you?

**[01:18:45]** Or one you draw from?

**[01:18:48]** A leadership book?

**[01:18:51]** The walking book Jitka Dovřáková.

**[01:18:54]** For me, leadership is absolutely shown by how she handles problems.

**[01:18:57]** You go to her for it.

**[01:19:00]** An incredible person for me. A totally key person in my life.

**[01:19:03]** More literature that probably influenced me a lot,

**[01:19:06]** is Eric Ries.

**[01:19:09]** Damn, I just forgot the title.

**[01:19:12]** Lean Startup.

**[01:19:15]** A key book when starting a startup,

**[01:19:18]** I think it's about hypotheses, growth hypotheses.

**[01:19:21]** A very important book.

**[01:19:24]** And one more Restart.

**[01:19:31]** Interesting question. Thanks for it.

**[01:19:34]** Too bad the person didn't sign it.

**[01:19:37]** I wonder what weighs heavily on their mind.

**[01:19:40]** For you, is a laid-off employee the result of considerations

**[01:19:43]** about their performance or their role in the team?

**[01:19:46]** What decides in such a moment?

**[01:19:49]** It's always a combination.

**[01:19:52]** And of course, you look at their performance,

**[01:19:55]** you can say no to that,

**[01:20:00]** to the team, how they behave, but at the same time you consider whether you feel they are happy in their role.

**[01:20:07]** For some people, that was one of the criteria—I saw they weren't happy there, that they couldn't

**[01:20:13]** make the decision to just move on. When I saw that, I always chose those people.

**[01:20:19]** When I saw others who were maybe a bit weaker performance-wise but had the drive, that person was more important to me.

**[01:20:25]** Someone who is good but you can see they're just pushing themselves. They might not have made the decision themselves.

**[01:20:34]** Now a question just came to me: looking back, what would you do differently?

**[01:20:43]** Well, I don't have anything major, but mistakes are part of it. Of course, we made a lot of mistakes,

**[01:20:48]** but that's inevitable. If I want to change things, yes, I sometimes make a change and realize

**[01:20:53]** it's crap. So what do I do? I make another change to fix it. Maybe I have to do it three times.

**[01:20:58]** But that's just part of it. Yes, you look back, do a retrospective, learn,

**[01:21:04]** but I can't change the past; the only thing I can change is what I do today.

**[01:21:09]** And that can improve the future. But worrying about guilt—sure, there are things

**[01:21:14]** I could have done differently. But it always moved me forward, always taught me something.

**[01:21:18]** So if I hadn't gone through those mistakes and failures, I wouldn't be where I am today,

**[01:21:23]** and I would be making different mistakes. I don't think I have...

**[01:21:27]** At the same time, I don't have anything I would call a total disaster.

**[01:21:30]** There were mistakes, but nothing that would have sunk the company. Because if there was a critical mistake, we wouldn't be here.

**[01:21:34]** It looked like it was on the edge.

**[01:21:37]** It was definitely on the edge, of course.

**[01:21:40]** Let me ask about organizational structure and how you make decisions.

**[01:21:46]** You say it's a free company, which is something many people imagine,

**[01:21:52]** where everyone agrees on something, but you also have to make decisions one after another in those periods.

**[01:21:58]** How does it actually work?

**[01:22:00]** It's not a completely free company with no management at all.

**[01:22:04]** Typically, with those teal organizations, you find they replace management with some kind of elders' council or leaders.

**[01:22:10]** You still find some structure typically emerges.

**[01:22:13]** We have leaders who are my closest team, and I discuss things a lot with them.

**[01:22:21]** We solve things together, and of course, I involve the team.

**[01:22:25]** Typically, at team buildings, we often had group brainstorming sessions,

**[01:22:29]** where we gathered the team's focus on what they wanted to do, what ideas they had.

**[01:22:33]** Yes, it changes during the crisis. In that crisis, I realized

**[01:22:36]** that I started making some decisions more often.

**[01:22:38]** That it just needs to be a bit faster there.

**[01:22:40]** Freedom is often a bit slower in some things.

**[01:22:45]** We had things where we tried to have a lot, a lot of freedom

**[01:22:47]** and I actually wanted to shift it into Tyrkys.

**[01:22:49]** But actually, during the crisis, I stepped back a bit from that

**[01:22:51]** and we focused on faster decisions, let's say.

**[01:22:54]** And now has it stabilized somehow?

**[01:22:56]** Now it has stabilized.

**[01:22:58]** It's basically a council of elders, but they are the leaders of individual teams,

**[01:23:02]** who help lead the company forward.

**[01:23:05]** We have open Leaders meetings, so anyone who wants to,

**[01:23:07]** like the Leaders meetings, can join.

**[01:23:10]** We have open minutes of the Leaders meetings.

**[01:23:12]** We have open data, we regularly show the P&L

**[01:23:16]** at every All Hands.

**[01:23:18]** We try to make the company readable, transparent.

**[01:23:22]** Of course, today there are just 19 of us,

**[01:23:25]** at our lowest we dropped to about 15 people,

**[01:23:28]** so it's obviously easier.

**[01:23:30]** It's relatively simple.

**[01:23:32]** And from the investors' and owners' perspective, how does it work there?

**[01:23:36]** Today we have...

**[01:23:38]** It used to be more intensive, now it's about once every six months.

**[01:23:41]** Once every four months.

**[01:23:43]** We meet as a board.

**[01:23:45]** I present to you what has happened,

**[01:23:47]** what will happen.

**[01:23:49]** I gather feedback.

**[01:23:51]** And we move on.

**[01:23:52]** Did the guys, I think, did the investors help you somehow

**[01:23:55]** during the tough period when you were falling?

**[01:23:58]** Did they give you any advice? Were they in a mentor role?

**[01:24:01]** Or did they say, hey, right now we're losing a lot of money?

**[01:24:05]** I have a life philosophy,

**[01:24:07]** I really like your quote on LinkedIn,

**[01:24:10]** that if you're the smartest person in the room,

**[01:24:12]** then you're in the wrong room.

**[01:24:13]** I'm not saying the best is to be the dumbest in the room,

**[01:24:16]** because then you can learn.

**[01:24:17]** For example, when I'm in Myton and the guys there are extremely smart.

**[01:24:20]** That's really a school in itself.

**[01:24:22]** And my investors are very smart too.

**[01:24:24]** At the same time, you realize that in some things

**[01:24:26]** simply because they don't have the big detail,

**[01:24:28]** I probably like to gather that feedback,

**[01:24:30]** but without that big detail, you can't make those decisions,

**[01:24:33]** because it's just surface level.

**[01:24:34]** So yes, I gather feedback,

**[01:24:36]** some feedback is definitely relevant,

**[01:24:38]** but the key is in the detail,

**[01:24:40]** which they simply can't have.

**[01:24:43]** It doesn't work.

**[01:24:47]** What is the most important thing

**[01:24:48]** a person should do if they want to start a business?

**[01:24:54]** Start.

**[01:24:56]** Probably just start, yeah.

**[01:24:58]** I think so, yes.

**[01:25:02]** And here is a nice final question.

**[01:25:06]** What product would you recommend for a good dinner at your place tomorrow?

**[01:25:13]** My favorite product,

**[01:25:15]** which I probably ever had on the table,

**[01:25:17]** was sour cream from Mr. Mikolášek,

**[01:25:20]** who unfortunately is no longer with us.

**[01:25:22]** He passed away and his successor didn't make it through COVID,

**[01:25:26]** so it was really a product I couldn't give up.

**[01:25:30]** And a great sour cream is also from the Struhy farm.

**[01:25:33]** So try the sour cream.

**[01:25:34]** But everything there is good, my goodness.

**[01:25:36]** I know Struhy, I actually know the farm there.

**[01:25:38]** Well, it's great.

**[01:25:40]** Alright, thank you very much, Kamil.

**[01:25:42]** Thanks for the great story.

**[01:25:43]** Thank you.

**[01:25:44]** Thanks for your attention.

**[01:25:46]** And good luck.

**[01:25:48]** I would have to want to run away.

**[01:25:50]** And I thank you too.

**[01:25:51]** Thank you for the interesting questions.

**[01:25:53]** Thank you for being with us.

**[01:25:55]** I'll ask you for feedback

**[01:25:59]** on this breakfast, on this story,

**[01:26:01]** how you liked it.

**[01:26:03]** You can rate it with stars.

**[01:26:05]** We're also interested in a word

**[01:26:07]** that came to your mind in some way

**[01:26:11]** with this breakfast.

**[01:26:13]** So please write it down there.

**[01:26:15]** I think it will be there in a moment,

**[01:26:18]** and it already is, great.

**[01:26:19]** So it's on the slide.

**[01:26:23]** I'll make a summary,

**[01:26:26]** because usually it's about

**[01:26:29]** not just ending with

**[01:26:31]** simply listening to the story

**[01:26:33]** in one ear and out the other.

**[01:26:35]** It's very good when what you hear

**[01:26:37]** is discussed with someone or told to someone,

**[01:26:39]** some moments that stuck with you,

**[01:26:41]** something you disagree with.

**[01:26:43]** So I encourage everyone,

**[01:26:45]** whether you're watching us live,

**[01:26:47]** or here in person,

**[01:26:49]** try to really fill out

**[01:26:51]** this simple form,

**[01:26:53]** which you have in edu, or you can download it from the website,

**[01:26:55]** and really have a round of discussion

**[01:26:57]** with your team about what it gave you,

**[01:26:59]** what it took from you. I know that, for example, at Zonentor they do this

**[01:27:01]** regularly and in other companies,

**[01:27:03]** so greetings to them.

**[01:27:05]** So that's the round of discussion.

**[01:27:07]** We also organize this round,

**[01:27:09]** because I'm no exception,

**[01:27:11]** I always find a few questions in my head

**[01:27:13]** after a week,

**[01:27:15]** after 14 days.

**[01:27:17]** So, 37.

**[01:27:21]** Brain and Breakfast Digestive, where Kamil will be.

**[01:27:23]** Josef Dvořáček has already accepted the invitation,

**[01:27:25]** from Zonentor.

**[01:27:27]** And there will definitely be a few more people,

**[01:27:29]** who always bring interesting talks there.

**[01:27:31]** If you want to be part of it,

**[01:27:33]** register at

**[01:27:35]** redbutton.edu.

**[01:27:37]** And we continue

**[01:27:39]** also with

**[01:27:41]** our next stream,

**[01:27:43]** which are business breakfasts.

**[01:27:45]** So I hope

**[01:27:47]** you'll get up early with us

**[01:27:49]** for the future and companies,

**[01:27:51]** that have a prepaid

**[01:27:53]** company Edu license, have this

**[01:27:55]** included. Currently,

**[01:27:57]** directly focused, expert, practical

**[01:27:59]** on specific topics,

**[01:28:01]** and in August we will look

**[01:28:03]** in the stream with people

**[01:28:05]** and Sandra Friedrichová

**[01:28:07]** at conflict resolution and nonviolent communication,

**[01:28:09]** and in the stream

**[01:28:11]** technology with DIT,

**[01:28:13]** with whom I had

**[01:28:15]** a discussion and preparation yesterday.

**[01:28:17]** Specifically about digital mindset, AI,

**[01:28:19]** and digitalization in everyday work.

**[01:28:21]** These are the topics we will offer in these two streams,

**[01:28:23]** on the first and second

**[01:28:25]** of August.

**[01:28:27]** Otherwise, as I said, a lot is happening in Red Button.

**[01:28:29]** Book of the month, Jirka Benedikt, Sankou Yadavan,

**[01:28:31]** How to captivate right away,

**[01:28:33]** that's the current book of the month,

**[01:28:35]** available at rbkniha.cz,

**[01:28:37]** and also, a QR code, if you would

**[01:28:41]** if you wanted to be with us,

**[01:28:43]** definitely register

**[01:28:45]** for the shortcut

**[01:28:47]** and if you want to discuss anything,

**[01:28:49]** just press the red button

**[01:28:51]** redbutn.cz lmeno push

**[01:28:53]** and it will redirect you to us

**[01:28:55]** somehow.

**[01:28:57]** I'm also looking forward to

**[01:28:59]** the August breakfast.

**[01:29:01]** Honza Romportl accepted the invitation.

**[01:29:03]** Honza is a person

**[01:29:05]** who has been involved with artificial intelligence

**[01:29:07]** for many, many years.

**[01:29:09]** He also focuses on mental health

**[01:29:11]** and philosophy.

**[01:29:13]** I think this breakfast

**[01:29:15]** will be a bit different from usual,

**[01:29:17]** where we just describe what artificial intelligence is,

**[01:29:19]** etc. Definitely look forward to it,

**[01:29:21]** it will have an interesting perspective.

**[01:29:23]** Honza recently founded a company

**[01:29:25]** called Elin, which

**[01:29:27]** focuses on the mental health

**[01:29:29]** of Generation Z

**[01:29:31]** using artificial intelligence,

**[01:29:33]** because what is happening and will happen

**[01:29:35]** will have a big

**[01:29:37]** impact and already does, so

**[01:29:39]** on August 22nd,

**[01:29:41]** I look forward to seeing you,

**[01:29:43]** whether here in Magenta or with you

**[01:29:45]** via live stream.

**[01:29:47]** Thanks a lot, take care,

**[01:29:49]** enjoy, bye and see you.

**[01:30:00]** www.arkance-systems.cz